Pages

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

SNCC 2011 is over and everyone finally has a big load off their shoulders. A week has past now and the euphoria of winning or the sorrow of defeat by everyone should have more or less settle down; celebrations and emo-ing are over, and it did took me sometime to calm down and write this post with a cool head. It is the time now to move on and start the new season a fresh. Before we do so, we always take stock of the previous season to learn from the mistakes and build on the successes.

For XWonder, SNCC 2011 was the 1st time we took part in a partner stunt competition. You can say that it was more of me wanting to join than Snow. I always thought that we should at least join 1 PS competition before we finally retire from competitive cheerleading, as PS is what we trained ourselves a lot in, and what XWonder was built on from the start. I want to experience what it is like to join a PS competition so that I can share our experiences and feelings to others. Even though we did not win, we learnt a lot from it, some of the things we might not have learn or get to experience if we had won.

From every defeat, you learn something about yourself, your reaction to it and how you handle it. For me as I was walking out of the mats after the competition, there was just a huge feeling of major disappointment. I am sorry if I walked out glumly and not like how a cheerleader should be like, cheering on others no matter what. However I really cannot control my emotions then as I failed my stunts, even the stunts which I usually had no problems with, and then the finale stunt did not hit as well. I simply cannot bring myself to smile and cheer to the crowd after such a bad performance. However I will learn from this and hope to be able to show everyone the right cheerleading spirit when I take the stage again in future.

During the routine itself, lots of different emotions are going through my mind, from the time I prep for the 1st stunt, as we moved on and then after failing a stunt. I have to say that I was really very nervous when I prep for the beginning and it felt like my mind was separated from my body. I guess the stress was too big for me to handle and I did not perform well under that kind of stress. I cannot really remember what exactly happened as I was performing through the routine, all I know is that with each failed stunt, more and more disappointment sets in and totally demoralized me to the extent that I was not even focused on doing the stunt so much so that even the stunt that I always hit failed too.

What I learnt from this is that everyone has to learn to manage their stresses, some have more tolerance than others and you need to find out where’s your level at. Also find out if you can perform in front of crowd and whether the adrenaline can make you perform better or worse. For me, being out there, just the 2 of you, with too much stress and expectation on myself can really make you become so nervous that you will not be able to perform to your max capabilities. This might sound like an excuse, but no it isn’t, I take all responsibility and blame for the failure, but at the same time, I want to share how it feels out there. And my advice to people taking part in future PS competition to really go out there with a very confident routine and leave nothing to chance. As long as a stunt felt like it might not hit sometimes, when you go out there onto the mats, you will definitely be affected and do not hope that the adrenaline will take you through because it might not.

Other than the competition itself, there is also the training and if you never trained for a PS competition before, or tried doing a chain of PS for 1 minute, you should try it, even if you are not intending to join any PS competition. I have done both running a 2min30sec team routine and also a 1min group stunt routine and both are damn tiring for me. But after I tried PS training for a 1min PS routine, the other 2 pales in comparision; I think it is the most intense and tiring of the 3 different category. This is only true for bases though, for flyers I don’t think they feel as tiring as a base for PS (Snow thinks it is not tiring at all and can keep going and going). I know that I definitely have to improve on my stamina and endurance in order to do better and be more consistent the next time. Everyone should really try training a 1min PS routine even if you are only competing in the team category, because at the same time you will be training your team routine stamina and makes doing PS in the middle of the routine much easier. I highly recommend PS training especially for bases, it test your limits to the maximum.

Besides dealing with the “physical tortures” during the process of PS training, one have to deal with the mental aspect as well. This is especially so if you are competing together with your GF/BF, it is a totally different ballgame altogether compared to just stunting with a teammate or friend. Though I knew before this that stunting with your GF/BF can lead to quarrels sometimes, but only after really training for PS competition that I found out that it takes it to a whole new level. So for would be PS couples please beware. Haha. For PS stunting with teammates, even if you have disagreements during training sometimes, it ends there. But for couples, the disagreements and quarrels may continue on the way home and on the phone and even the next day. And usually teammates hold back their unhappiness, but for couples we usually just let fly. Lol. For Snow and myself, this journey together training for PS has made us more understanding of each other and also more enduring. And for Snow she even came up with a way to cope with whatever unhappiness she might feel if we fail a stunt or routine – that is to collect money from me each time a stunt fails so she will feel better even when a stunt fail. And guess how much she “earned” over this period? Over $1,000!!

Anyway even after some of the difficulties I said above, I really would still encourage couples to join the PS competition together. Not only will you learn a lot about yourself, but also of each other and how together as a couple can handle the collective stresses together. There are also a lot of fun times and happy times, especially when the stunts hits perfectly, you will get double the joy too and the joy spills over after training too and you can be very happy till at least the next training. Thinking and planning the routine together also adds that extra satisfaction. Joining as a couple also has that extra meaning to it, even if you may not be out to win, as compared to pairing up with a very good base/or flyer and going all out to win. It is an extra special journey that you can share with your GF/BF, something which team or group category cannot give you; you do it together, win or lose it is always/ and only the 2 of you.

So this pretty much sums up my journey with Snow joining the SNCC 2011 PS competition, from training to the actual performance. The experiences we had this time and lessons learnt will ensure that we will do better in future, and I also hoped that it may help anyone who is reading this and intending to join PS competition in future. The above are purely my own accounts and it totally varies from every individual, so the best is still to participate, path out your own journey and experience it for yourselves.

P.S: Since 2005 I have not experience any loss; and I have lost the true feeling of being a cheerleader for some time, the feeling of failing a stunt in a competition and the feeling of losing – it totally sucks. In that 1 split moment after the competition, all that feeling comes back to me in an instant. You will never truly win if you never experience defeat before. This is a timely reminder for me and a 1 time big 1 in the face, I will be back stronger than before!!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Friday, March 25, 2011

2nd Blog Post of the Month is a post by Jaime and reposted and tagged by Jay from Legacy on his blog. I would like to start with a sentence from the post,

"Erm, usually when my stunts don't go up, and people come and tell me you did a good job, i would be damn pissed off."

I believe this is how I would feel if someone came to me right after I finished performing. But however like Jaime put it, they still did win and in many ways.

Cheerleading is never always only about winning the championship, getting the medals etc. In fact like many of our VoM entries this month, the journey itself is much more meaningful than the result alone. And I am sure every team has their story to tell and share, and only those who had lived through it themselves can truely understand. As Jamie puts it, cheerleading is about growing together as a team and overcoming yourself.

I shall end off with a quote from Jaime,

"I hope my team and i has inspired you in someway or another, about what cheerleading really is about, because its one hell of an experience, and every single battle fought was worth it. (:"

We have the 6th entry, video posted by Vincent Yeo and tagged by Yvonne. The video is on team Awe-stars, the 2nd runner up for SNCC group stunts mixed. It shows the trainings that they had gone through and something most notable was the number of different places which they trained at, from outside lecture halls to beside the carpark to indoor sports hall, and also regardless of day time or night time. From the video you can also tell that they do not have a proper coach and even had to record their own timings. They also had not much help and even had to spot themselves most times even when running the full routine.

Most players only have to focus on their training, but for Awe-stars, they had to design, make their own uniforms and mix their own music. After watching this video I really appreciate the times I was still a player, I only had to focus on the routine training and nothing else. Well I guess the journey that Awe-stars took and the effort of doing everything themselves really paid off in the end (got themselves a medal placing); and even if had they not get a medal, it is the journey that they can always remember and be proud of. And everyone is happy.

P.S: Do not be envious of others; others may have better resources and facilities, but we have that somethings that others will never experience ever.

The 5th video entry for April VoM is by Karen Lee from Legacy and tagged by Jay. It is a video to the tune of the song "Marching On" documenting down some of the trainings of Legacy for SNCC 2011; showing their stuff, stunting, dancing, playing and enjoying themselves. I love the bloopers at the back of the video too, had a great time watching and chilling as I watched it; it was very amusing and I bet the players from Legacy must have had 1000 times more laughter and joy than me from watching the bloopers. At the end of every journey, it is these memories that you remember the most and brings the team even closer than ever.

The 4th video entry for April VoM is a video posted by Kerry and tagged by Jiahui. Another performance video of Astros, this time performing for SAF Engineers Dinner at Singapore Army Museum. Stay tuned for more new and exciting routines by Astros as they revamp their routine.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

The 1st entry of BPOM April is by Felicia for her post on Wildcards Blog and tagged by Jen. I should had done this entry before nationals itself as it is a post regarding 2nd SNCC that had just passed few days ago, but I too was heavily involved and had no time to update.

Felicia is a member of Wildcards but she is not involved in this year's routine, so she and fellow gang of Carmen and Perle helped out in other ways and no doubt proved to be as important as everyone else on the team. Without them Wildcards would not have such an amazing video done for their road to nationals. They are also the cheerleaders cheering the cheerleaders on. It really helps alot to have supporters cheering you on as you train; you know you are not alone and doing what you are doing for a reason, for the team.

As we now know that Wildcards is the Open Category Nationals Champions, I believe the road to it would be much more difficult and lonely without their lovely supporters who made such a awesome video for them.

Friday, March 11, 2011

The journey to SNCC 2011 video of Wildcards Cheerleading Team. Uploaded and tagged by Felicia from Wildcards. Once again Wildcards had shown their confidence and readiness for the competition by uploading a video of their trainings over the past few months leading up to SNCC 2011. In the video you can not only see all the stunts they are going to showcase this Sunday, but you can also see the hardship, tears and joys of the players; giving their best for the team. Jiayou Wildcards and all the teams competing in SNCC 2011.

P.S: Some people will go to all lengths and even "die" to take part in it, but some just choose to leave the team in times of trouble.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

2nd entry for April VoM is by Kerry of Astros. Another of the performances done by Astros. Astros had to date done over 20 performances in just a span of half a year. And the highlight of this performance is the first ever full up liberty PS set we did for our performances. We will aim to do even more in future.

Li Jing for his video on Alpha Verve and some of the highlights and acomplishments this season. Once again an amazing video done.

A video by Li Jing from Alpha Verve. Another first video from someone new to VoM. Li Jing I never knew you are so talented in this area too. I loved the effects used in the video. Alpha had come a long way this season, you all were not defeated when things do not go our way, but instead pick ourselves up and did it even better. Because of the ordeal, each an everyone of you became a better cheerleader. Really hope to see all of you stay together for the next session and build on what we achieve this year.

Li Jing you won yourself $50.

With this month's VoM, we have completed an entire year, the first full year since the introduction of VoM in April'10. A total of $718. had been given out so far. I promise the next year to be even greater. Come on guys what are you waiting for? Be part of the action and get paid to cheer.

P.S: To celebrate VoM 1st year anniversary next month, for VoM April'11, great prizes will be given out. Start posting your video now!!

NTU HO Cheerleading was over last month, hence there was a special promotion for BPoM to encourage people to blog about HO and their experiences. Earlier,it was not mentioned what's the extra one can get for winning with an entry on HO, but we still received 2 post related to NTU HO anyway. Ok, the extra for blogging and winning with a post on HO will stand to win 20% more. Meaning to say, and extra 20% of $50 for a total of $60. Alright so who is the lucky winner this month? And the winner for BPoM March goes to...

The post by Stanley on "Looking back on NTU Hall Olympiad Opening 2011". Congratulations Stanley, and for blogging on NTU HO and winning, you have won yourself the total prize of $60.

Nice post by Stanley on NTU HO. Cheerleading can help in character building and as long as we are still in it, we constantly learn something new, or discover something about ourselves. There are still many things to learn about cheerleading and together we will create a better future for cheerleading.

Comments by Chaang:

Stan writes with 4 years of experience from both NTU HO and external National level competitions. He has chose to touch on a very controversial topic on how rising cheerleading standards can be a double edged sword and has also pointed out on some areas that should be improved on by the organizers of this event.

Whist there are areas that Stan does not agree, he contributes ideas and alternatives which can improve the situation. I personally think that this is very crucial for cheerleading to grow in Singapore. For many years we have ''keyboard warriors'' who like to play people's suggestion down for their sole comfort and satisfaction. Stan braved such criticisms and handled objections in a professional and logical way. Most importantly, he is firm enough and took his own stand.

NTU HO remains as the biggest competition in our industry with 16 local teams competing within the same category. For cheerleading in Singapore to grow, we must continue to develop this crucial piece of the parcel as well.

Cheers,Chaang"

Congratulations once again Stanley, and you will be hearing from us soon on how to receive your prize.

P.S: NTU HO was just over for less than a month, and Singapore National Cheerleading Competition (SNCC) is just around the corner. What an exciting year for cheerleading we had so far.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

The 4th entry of BPOM March is by Winston and tagged by Hann Bin, for his post on Wildcards Blog, "The Final Lap ". Once again nice post at the last lap towards Nationals. It is during this time, when everyone is exhausted, tired and frustrated that we can all do with as much encouragement and motivation from each other as possible.

A quote to remember:

Successful people would fail more than the rest, but they keep trying, that is why they succeed.

The 3rd entry of BPOM March is by Hann Bin for his post, "WE ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS AND WE INTEND TO STAY THAT WAY!". This post by Hann Bin is very motivational, and discuss some of the ideas and methods that can help a team towards its final run in for the championship. Never blame each other, work together to find out the mistake, believe that you can hit the routine and stay positive.

A nice quote; "Tough times dont last, Tough men do"

So everyone stay focus in this final few weeks, do not let your efforts for a whole year go to waste, just because of a laspe in concentration at the last moment.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The 4th video entry for March VoM is a video posted by Felicia from Wildcards. It is a video of Wildcards peeps dancing around during training. I was considering for a while if I should include this video as an entry for VoM, and then I thought there is also a segment for dance in cheerleading, so this video sure qualifies for VoM as well. A very nice selection of music to go with the video too. Looking forward to seeing part 2.

P.S: This video comes along together with a BPoM entry too. Good example of trying to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The 3rd entry for March VoM is by Kerry. The video is shows some random footages of Astros during training. A very light hearted video that shows how training is like during Astros training, where we can seek improvements without the stresses of competition or the need to prove a point. Great video.